They Came to the PUSH Hall “From Every Arena”
“A drizzling rain fell as more than 1,000 people turned out Saturday to say farewell to one of the great voices in the generations-old crusade for racial justice — columnist, author and broadcaster Vernon D. Jarrett,” reports Maudlyne Ihejirika in the Chicago Sun-Times.
“From every arena, they congested 50th Street and Drexel Avenue to file into the Great Hall at Operation PUSH and pay their respects to a man whose vocation ultimately was the demand for respect, for the advancement of his people.
“Politicians. Civil rights icons. Academia. Literary giants. The black church and the black press.
“In fine cars came the wealthy of the community, whom he constantly challenged to reach back for the poor, who traipsed off buses to say farewell to their champion.
“‘Hero’ was the choir’s goodbye song that sent him home.”
A man who made history come alive (Les Payne, Newsday)
“He Was Ours. We Were His.” (Remarks at funeral by NABJ President Herbert Lowe)